Having restrictions on dancing sounds like a plot from a movie, but it's the reality for one Maine town.

There's only one place to get your groove on in Hallowell and business owners in town said it could ruin them.

"Right now we're on a month-to-month because of the infractions," siad Deanna Thibeau, a bartender at Higher Grounds.

Higher Grounds can't allow dancing.

"It's a scary thing when people are regulating something that shouldn't be regulated," said Thibeau.

Thibeau said they've had to tell patrons to stop dancing, some to stop moving, because it could mean the business gets shut down.

"People would come in and be like, 'Oh, haha,' and we'd be like, 'No, that's serious. You actually can't do that," said Thibeau.

The bar is one of many that received a summons from the state Fire Marshal's Office for not having a dancing license. But the $117 piece of paper isn't the problem.

It's bringing the building up to code in order to get the license, like adding a sprinkler system and a second exit.

"Being a bar that rents from here, we can't afford to put $40,000 to $50,000 of work into the building," said Thibeau.

At the Kennebec Wharf, it got into trouble for its dancing license being expired. It has since been renewed, but owner Tim Connelly said he's lost about 25 percent of his business because people don't know they can still dance at the wharf

"It has slowed down. People are starting to find other places to go, thinking the town of Hallowell does not have dancing, but we do have dancing," said Connelly.

It's a problem bars and their customers said could ruin the town.

"It's a sense of community here. It's not just businesses. It's the people that run them and it's hurting them," said resident Tom Ward.

"The fact that it is a tight-knit community means people are going to complain about this until it's changed," said musician Sam Shain.